Updated 6.40pm

Another 142 new COVID-19 cases were registered in the past 24 hours, as 174 patients recovered.

The new cases were found from 4,031 swab tests.

This means there are currently 2,230 active cases in Malta.

Of these, 37 (down from 39 on Monday) are being treated at Mater Dei Hospital, including one person at the Intensive Treatment Unit.

Health authorities have said a quarter of the hospital patients as of Monday have no symptoms.

The asymptomatic patients were already vaccinated and in Mater Dei for other health reasons and were found to be positive following routine testing for the virus.

Overall, just under half the hospital patients are vaccinated while half are not. 

No new deaths have been reported.

According to data published by the health authorities, the average age of Monday's  94 cases was 34.

Vaccination

A total of 371,802 people are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with a total of 746,883 doses administered over the past months.

According to Health Minister Chris Fearne, the day when COVID-19 is treated as a “mild disease” is nearing, virus variants permitting. 

From last week, unvaccinated residents could get the jab without the need for an appointment from Gateway Hall at the University, Mondays to Saturdays and from the Gozo Conference & Expo Centre, Mondays to Fridays.

Almost 2,500 walk-in vaccinations

Mobile clinics have also been set up for the same purpose and are visiting different localities.

Literally thousands of people turned up at the mobile clinic outside Parliament in Valletta on Tuesday morning, with the queue stretching around the former Opera House and as far as Merchants Street.

By the end of the day, healthcare workers had administered 2,471 vaccines to walk-in patients. 

People received the jab outdoors.

A resident gets his COVID-19 vaccine at the Valletta mobile clinic on Tuesday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Those turning up for a vaccine needed to present their ID card or another identification document, together with proof that they are resident in Malta. 

Health authorities confirmed “anything” was being accepted as proof of residency, from electricity bills to locally registered mobile phone and work contracts, and that the idea was to vaccinate everyone living and working in the country.

The aim behind this was to avoid people who were just here on a holiday from getting the vaccine, the authorities said, adding that there was the odd case of a tourist passing by the mobile clinic in Valletta and joining the queue.

According to a legal notice published on Monday, the health authorities can now give language schools permission to reopen if the exemption from the closure rules is "deemed necessary or essential". The schools were closed following a surge in new cases after their opening.

Meanwhile, the Malta Tourism Authority has approved a second quarantine hotel, the three-star Sliema Hotel on the seafront, following a call issued after the Marina Hotel St George’s Bay had been approaching full capacity.